Captain Alan Christopher sat quietly at the head of the conference table
watching his crew’s reaction to the disturbing sight being played out on the
monitor.It wasn’t gory or extreme, but
it was terribly unsettling.

Commander Harrison expelled a hopeless sigh, while Commander Keller
simply nodded her head.Most everyone
else had a similar reaction to the small Elorg ship emerging from the swirling nether that was inside the Alteran Expanse.

Christopher recognized the ship as one of similar design to the one
Talyere had arrived in several months prior.An elongated trapezoid with a plethora of sensor devices mounted to the
hull, barely resembling a starship.Though he only saw a playback of the events then, it sent chills down
his spine.Now, witnessing it first
hand, Christopher was experiencing a similar sensation.

“It is only a scout ship,” Talyere said stoically.“It will not provide much force to the Elorg
fleet,” he added to reassure the others.

Christopher smiled, but hardly felt reassured.“It might not provide the Elorg with
firepower, but it will definitely provide them with supplies,” he said.

Talyere slowly nodded to affirm the statement.“That it will.”He stared briefly at the small vessel before
returning his attention back to the meeting.“If the vessel is equipped with standard supplies, it will have more
than enough resources to have both warships fully operational within a few
weeks.Perhaps
sooner.”

Harrison wearily rubbed his
forehead.“And there’s nothing we can do
to stop them,” he grimaced.“That is,
without losing half of our fleet to the verteron radiation.”

Christopher nodded sullenly and slowly started to drum his fingers upon
the shiny black tabletop.“No kidding,”
he said before Erin Keller suddenly cut in.

“Talyere,” she called out, “how far was this ship from the rift when you
left Elorg space?”

The Elorg sighed for a moment as he delved into his memory in search of
the data in question.After waiting
patiently for several moments, Christopher slid the padd containing Talyere’s
report across the table to him for faster access.“Thank you,” he called out as he intercepted
the padd before it could skitter over the edge.Quickly, he picked it up and accessed the proper data.“The vessel was 216 spatial grids away from
the terminus of the rift,” he announced after a moment of additional
cogitation.“Assuming they set a course
directly for the rift at the time its nature was discovered, the vessel should
have arrived two days ago.”

Two days.That wasn’t much of a
time differential given the circumstances.“In other words,” said Christopher, “practically right on time.”

Talyere punched a few additional computations into the padd.“Assuming the rest of the Elorg fleet did the
same, Elorg warships similar to the ones already present should arrive in about
two months.Unlike their counterpoints
here, these warships will be completely functional.”

Christopher nodded negatively.“This is not good,” he sighed.“We need to redouble our efforts in finding a way around the verteron
problem,” he decided.“We have the
firepower to strike, and strike hard, but as long as the verteron radiation is
out there, that firepower is as good as useless.

“Now, we have two months before the Elorg arrive—maybe less, and I want
to be ready for them when that day comes.See if it’s possible to convert the older ships’ engines to something
similar to our design so they can penetrate the radiation with us.Maybe shields can be modified to prevent the
radiation from killing the warp core.Who knows, maybe we can summon the good verteron fairy to come and save
the day.”

Harrison cast a curious gaze at the
Captain.“In other words, do whatever it takes,” he paraphrased.

Christopher pointed an accusing finger at the commander.“Well done, Matthew.You get a golden star!”

As Christopher turned away from Harrison’s
sarcastic moans, he took yet another look at the emerging Elorg vessel.Even knowing its nominal capabilities didn’t
put him at ease.They needed to end this
crisis, and end it soon.“Are there any
other matters we need to discuss?” he asked upon returning his attention to the
conference.

Christopher’s eyes shot about the conference table, locking briefly with
each of the senior staff present before he was content their meeting was
over.“Okay.Dismissed,” he said with a casual wave of the
hand.

As the others slowly funneled back to their respective stations, Kendall
Johnson slowly approached Lucas Tompkins and Erin Keller, who were chatting
quietly near the exit closest to the bridge.“I don’t know about this,” he grimaced.

“I hear you,” agreed Keller.“This
task does weigh heavily upon our shoulders,” she added, referring to the group standing
with her.

Kendall nodded slowly.She was right, but he was almost certain they
could make at least some sort of headway in two months.How much progress remained to be seen, but
something was better than nothing.“Has
Starfleet come up with anything we might be able to use as a template?” he
inquired.

Tompkins quickly shook his head.“They’re as stumped as we are,” he said.“Several prototype engine modifications either prompted a warp core
breech, or didn’t work at all.”